The invention relates generally to stringed racquets used in the playing of such games as tennis, badminton, squash, paddle ball, and the like. In particular, the present invention relates to racquets of metal, to the securement of the handle thereto, and to the stringing thereof.
Racquets of metal are strung in manner like to that of wooden racquets, but since the metal is not normally as yieldable as wood, care must be taken to protect the material of which the stringing is formed against abrasion and untoward wear.
Metal racquets usually are formed of elongated strips of material bent into inverted U-shape, the trough or bight of the U-shape being spread to define a generally oval-shaped stringed area, the ends of the strips being brought around towards each other to embrace a handle element or to form part of the handle assembly. The overall length of the racquet is about 27 inches, the width of the oval varying between 9 inches to 10 inches, the length exceeding that by an inch or two. The problem has arisen in the stringing of the generally oval-shaped striking area at or about the immediate area whereat the ends of the metal frame are bent inwardly and extend into or form -- at least in part -- the handle. The area where the oval merges into the handle is commonly referred to as the throat, and will be so referred to hereinbelow. Manifestly, it is not practical to bring together and into contact the metal lengths at the point where the stringed area ends and the inefficiencies, begins, the bend of the metal would necessarily be too abrupt and destructive of the frame. One expedient used in solving the problem is shown in one prior art racquet wherein an element bridging the throat is welded to and between the sides of the frame at the throat area, closely adjacent the curve extending from the striking area to the handle. The welding, however, makes for considerable additional expense, not only for the labor involved in that step, but also because the metal must then be refinished to hide or cover the unsightly and metal-discoloring weld joints. It is thus highly desirable to avoid welding or other expensive and cost-increasing operations. Another prior art patent presents another type of bridging element, the flattened ends of which float within elongated slots in the facing sides of the frame, but this, too, is ineffective except in providing means for anchoring or threading the vertical strands of the stringing in the center of the oval.